Dressing Decently As An Act Of Charity...

The warm weather means that people are often rather scantily dressed. It interested me to note that, in an email sent round at work, people were asked to dress "decently" so that their choice of clothing did not cause embarrassment, distract or give rise to misunderstandings... in other words, to dress modestly as an act of charity to those around us.

Decent dress, according to the email, meant not showing bare midriffs, not wearing sleeveless tops, avoiding overly-translucent materials, and no low-cut trousers or shorts (of any length).

In other words, one does not merely dress to please oneself, but considers one's colleagues.

It is a shame that this attitude of charity towards one's neighbour appears to be ignored by so many when they are choosing what to wear for the worship of Almighty God...

UPDATE: As Caroline pointed out, it might be worth considering the spectacle presented by many ladies when they kneel at the altar rail for Communion if their tops are of the low-cut variety. Is it really fair on the priest? I have to confess that I used to wear low-cut tops myself when I first returned to the Faith. That stopped pretty quickly after one occasion when the Host accidentally dropped down my (not inconsiderable) cleavage...

Free The Word...!

Brandon Vogt recently got into hot water when, after making the texts of the Holy Father's encyclical available in electronic format, he was taken to task by the USCCB and the Holy See.

Brandon isn't arguing about the right of the Holy See to keep the copyright on Church documents, but what he wants is to petition for the documents to be made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs license. This means that people would be able to copy, distribute, display, and perform only verbatim copies of the work. It's an extremely popular way of safely distributing texts, especially digital content. Proper credit has to be given for the source, and the copyright is retained by the Holy See.

If you want to read more about how Brandon inadvertently fell foul of the copyright laws, and the reasons behind his proposals, check out his excellent post. You can also sign the petition by leaving a comment in his com-box.

Two Down...

Is it really four years since I started watching cricket?

I am having to watch the cricket without the benefit of expert tuition as both Jonathan and Zephy are away from the parish. Nevertheless, I was quite pleased with myself when I was able to say something vaguely intelligible after Mass when watching the Test Match in the Parish club. Unfortunately I can't remember what it was...

Although I haven't actually posted on it (for fear of saying something really stupid which will incur the wrath of cricket enthusiasts everywhere, and particularly in Blackfen) I have been keeping more than one eye on the Ashes Test Series. I have a very handy phone app which is rather useful - it tells me the score, whether the game is still on, who is in, who is out and how many runs are needed for one side to beat the other.

This year, the weather has not intervened to help out the Australian team, and, after their really disastrous first innings in the second Test, the Australians were well and truly thrashed by England.

So we only need to win one more Test out of the three in order to win the series...

I hope my support isn't going to prove the death-knell for England's chances of retaining the Ashes!

A Blessing For The Diocese

It was a very great pleasure to attend the Ordination to the Priesthood of five young men at St. George's Cathedral earlier today. 

Unfortunately, I'd had to set up for the Saturday morning Mass and Exposition at Blackfen, so I arrived late, and spent most of the occasion stuck behind a pillar. I got up to take this photo from the back...

Many congratulations to Fr. Samuel Davey, Fr. Valentine Erhahon, Fr. Stephen Haines, Fr. Thomas Lynch and Fr. Leonard Tatt. God bless them for their generous response to his call! And please do keep them in your prayers as they begin their priestly ministry.

UPDATE: There are a few photos up on the Catholic Church (England & Wales) Flickr pages.

If A Cat Doesn't Want To Know...

...lady, you can clap your hands all you like. That might get a response from a dog, but kitty cats have standards... no way is a cat going to play second fiddle to you as some sort of prop for your story...

It's Official...

Cardinal Furretti has decided that the weather is a bit warm, and so she's started to sleep in the sink...

Part of me is tempted to give her a trim...

Feeling Like Cassandra...

A fortnight ago, I had a little rant about the politician who had the gall to suggest that school Summer holidays were too long, and this was having an adverse effect on student attainment.

I pointed out that, since he went to an independent school, his holidays had been much longer, and I doubted that he felt disadvantaged. I went on to suggest that, actually, this was part of the Government agenda to keep children at school so parents would be free to work instead of actually getting to interact with their own children. After all, the parents might actually teach their children to question Government policies, and that would never do.

As an aside, do you think that politicians forget what they've been debating over the long parliamentary recesses?

Technically the news was focusing on schools being able to choose their own holiday dates, but I am rather a cynical type, and I griped that this would be a way for the schools to shorten the holidays without too much fuss, and added that I thought that schools would be encouraged to lengthen the school day too, so as to make collecting children on the way home from work easier...

Well, I never expected to be proved absolutely right quite so quickly!

Today's Telegraph Online reports that the Department for Education is planning to improve the provision of affordable childcare by (among other things) encouraging schools to open for more hours of the day and more weeks in the year.

They have even suggested that schools hold "sleepovers"...

Told you so...

Good Counsel Network Sponsored Walk...

Back in May, I advertised the Good Counsel Network's annual sponsored walk from Wandsworth to Wapping, and suggested that people might like to go along, sponsor someone, pray... or all three.

I doubt very much that it was my influence, but one of my fellow parishioners, Antonia, is planning to do the 13 mile walk with some (or possibly all) of her family. She's hoping to raise £500, and so, if you can, please go over to her JustGiving page and make a donation.

The Good Counsel Network relies totally on your donations in order to offer practical help and support to women who might otherwise think they had no alternative but to have an abortion.

It is all very well to be "pro-life" on paper, but we have to be ready to back it up by our actions. If you can't support the cause financially, then do remember to pray!

Dicing With Death...

This video of an obnoxious parakeet and a very patient kitty cat made me smile. It seems pretty obvious that the cat's restraint was purely because it was being recorded...

If either Monsignor Miaowrini or Cardinal Furretti had been in the same position, the parakeet wouldn't have lasted long...

Excuse Me While I Have A Rant...

I'm feeling a little peeved. Actually, I'm rather more than peeved. I'm seriously irritated. And annoyed.

Yet again, a politician has decided that the "long" school Summer holiday is considered fair game, and has called for us to shorten the Summer so that we remain competitive. Quite apart from the fact that a politician decrying a long Summer holiday is actually rather ironic, ("calling black kettle pot" - rearrange to form a well-known phrase) it is also inaccurate.

Some years, state schools get a full six weeks in the Summer. More often than not, it's five and a half, very occasionally just five. I am prepared to admit that the staggered start at the beginning of the Autumn term does make it longer for some students (and, as a teacher, I guess I'm biased.)

Chris Skidmore MP claims that children need shorter holidays because they "forget" everything over the break, and this lowers academic progress. He also thinks children find long holidays tedious.

Well, I've been a teacher for longer than he's been an MP and I can vouch for the fact that, should you ask a student what work they did before the weekend, most of them would have forgotten it. This is the reason that lessons start with a recap of what we did before. It's well-known that repeating things over and over again helps to improve retention. "Forgetting" stuff over the Summer isn't actually a problem. Children (and teachers) need to have a break from academic work.

Mr. Skidmore points out that the long Summer holidays are really a relic from our farming roots. Again, speaking from my years of teaching experience, I can vouch for the fact that students really don't benefit from being herded into hot, stuffy classrooms and forced to try and concentrate when the Sun comes out. All those high-achieving countries tend to have air conditioning as par for the course, I believe. The infrastructure for home learning is also there - Singapore regularly closes its schools to prepare against outbreaks of diseases such as swine flu, to check that everything is in place for home learning.

It is also interesting to note that independent schools in the UK have longer holidays than state schools. I haven't noticed a dearth of attainment in children who are privately educated. As a former student at Bristol Grammar School, Mr. Skidmore would have experienced holidays lasting 8 weeks in the Summer, which I dare say he found tedious, especially as the Autumn and Spring half term holidays were each a week and a half in length (state schools get a week for each), and Christmas and Easter are both three weeks long (state schools get two weeks for each of these.)

Does Mr. Skidmore feel he could have achieved more if he hadn't been handicapped by such onerously long holidays, or does he think it only applies to the children of the general masses who are too stupid to cope?

I suspect that what Mr. Skidmore really means is that the long Summer holidays are inconvenient for parents who have to work. His description of children sitting playing with their Super Nintendos (how very out of touch - it's all Wii now, I believe!) strongly suggests children who are home alone, without a parent who can encourage them to go out to museums, parks, swimming pools and so on. The emphasis in this country is not giving children a good all-round education (encouraging independent exploration of topics and subjects which interest the individual child over the Summer would do this) but providing childcare while the parents are out at work. Hence the proposals to shorten the holidays and calls to lengthen the school day.

Stalin would have given his right arm to get this sort of separation of children from their parents and putting them into the care of the State...

The Kitties Are Upping The Ante...

I'm not entirely sure if this is a warning or a reward, but I found this in the sitting room today...

I have no idea what bird it was - there were no obvious tail feathers in evidence - and it is very much the "parson's nose" end of the bird. I also don't know which kitty was responsible: though I'd hazard a guess at Miaowrini because she was very affectionate earlier. I assumed she was leading me to the kitchen to refill her food or water bowls, but they were both still full. She must think me very slow on the uptake...

It'll be a horse's head next. I'd probably better get in some smoked salmon...

A New Prayer Initiative...

Well, ok, not so new - it seems to have been going since last December, but I've only recently heard of the iHope London vigils, which are designed to pray for the workers of the abortion industry (particularly IPPF), that they may experience a conversion of heart.

As the website explains:

"There are many organisations that, misguidedly, promote and perform abortions, arguing not only that it is a right but also that it benefits babies, women, families and our society. The leading business in this field is IPPF (International Planned Parenthood Federation), with its headquarters near to London Bridge. IPPF’s employees are convinced that they are doing good and necessary work. Have we prayed for them today as Jesus did for His executioners, "Father forgive them for they do not know what they do!"?"

The processions, Masses and vigils take place on the 12th of each month, unless this occurs at the weekend, when it is transferred to the Monday. As the emphasis is on prayer and (silent) witness, people on the vigils are asked to prepare themselves spiritually:

To fast for the day of the vigil, from midnight until 3:15pm (the end of the procession) and, in addition, to:

1) be in a state of grace, having being to confession
2) be prepared to receive Holy Communion (to be a temple of the Blessed Sacrament)
3) give alms secretly to a Religious Order, faithful Catholic charity, a family in need
4) during the vigil be prepared to pray only
5) do a kind deed for someone, even a stranger
6) bring your Rosary and a heart full of love for the unborn, their parents and IPPF employees.

I'm sure that many of us who are unable to attend the vigils and processions themselves would perhaps consider supporting the initiative spiritually through prayer and fasting.

Transferred Feasts & Birthdays...

My birthday felt a bit weird this year. It all started when my parents rang me up to sing "Happy Birthday!" down the phone... I listened, thanked them warmly, and pointed out that it wasn't actually my birthday for another two days. Forgetfulness on the part of one's parents is only to be expected when you have clocked up as many years as I have, but then to have to send a scan of one's passport in order to convince said parents that you aren't winding them up has got to be a first.

So my birthday, when it actually arrived (yesterday), felt like a bit of an anticlimax.

However, it has been pointed out to me by the Senior MC that, since I arrived in the afternoon, I was actually born after First Vespers of the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, and so I should really celebrate on the 29th anyway. As we had a Missa Cantata arranged for the Feast, this seemed like a very good idea!

There was a very festive feel in the Sacristy after Mass as we had acquired a beautiful vestment press via Ebay. The Senior MC explained that he only just got his bid in on time (20 seconds before bidding closes is apparently the optimum time to prevent price hikes) as the celebrant at Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane on Monday night unexpectedly preached for the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. Fortunately mobile phone reception in Maiden Lane's sacristy is reasonable!

Lots of people came in and admired it, and the Sacristy Team is now pondering which items should go into which drawers. This is not as easy as you might think...

After Mass I was presented with a chocolate cake by Annie Elizabeth's children. There was no point in me taking a whole chocolate cake home just for me, so I thought I'd better share...

After an excellent lunch, I then drove down to see another friend for tea and a chat at a local garden centre. Alison's also a Science teacher, and we've been friends ever since training together on the PGCE course at King's. We often go to her local garden centre, mostly because she's into plants and ecology stuff in a big way, and also because they have rather nice tea rooms...

As we arrived in the car park, we discovered that there was a special Spitfire flying display (arranged to celebrate Armed Forces' Day.) Watching the plane was great fun, though my attempts to snap the plane as it came really close were thwarted by the bright sunlight.Still, I succeeded in getting a couple of shots which you can see on my Flickr page.

All in all, a really lovely transferred birthday... And I shall be sure to celebrate the Octave too!

The Homecoming Present...

When Zephyrinus posted an exclusive photo of the "welcome home" present obtained (at great expense) for His Hermeneuticalness by the sacristy team concerned that he might be missing the warmth of the Australian climate and people, there were some who suggested that this was merely photoshopped, as a light-hearted joke.

Even Fr. Finigan assumed it was photoshopped.

He should have known better. Zephy is a nice chap, but he's not au fait with the intricacies of Photoshop.

So, when he stepped into the sacristy on his return from the land of Oz, Fr. Finigan found his homecoming present waiting for him on the vestment press. I was a little worried he might blame it on the jetlag and think he was hallucinating, but he doesn't seem to be any the worse for wear.

And just to prove it, here's another photo...

A Little Nonsense (Thought I'd Share)...

Back in the mists of time when I was a schoolgirl (not quite prehistoric) teachers used videos in lessons. The videos were taped off the TV, usually the "schools programme," and they consisted of adults in very odd clothes talking a lot. Not very exciting, but it made a break from listening to the regular class teacher and copying from the blackboard.

The videos mostly lasted for the whole lesson - the television and video machine were usually wheeled in on a special trolley, and it took a while to get everyone arranged around the screen so that we could all see. Then the video would be started... and we'd find that the last teacher to see the video hadn't rewound it back to the beginning, so we'd wait patiently a bit longer. We'd watch the video and maybe discuss it the next lesson.

All the hassle involved meant that videos were shown in their entirety.

By the time that I started my teacher training, (many years later) it was recognised that short clips designed to illustrate a particular point were probably of more use in the classroom. A whole lesson watching some university professor in seventies get-up talking to the camera just wasn't going to hold the attention of kids used to watching Independence Day, Scream, Jurassic Park and Mission Impossible.

The difficulties involved in arranging to use a TV and video (still on the same lumbering old trolley), getting it into the classroom, getting the students into position and finding the right point on the video (which couldn't be done before, unless you were very lucky, as there was only one machine for the whole department and someone else had booked it for the lesson before) before the students got restless and started climbing the walls, meant that the use of video clips was quite rare. Nice theory, not done much in reality.

Fast-forward to the present and most schools have interactive whiteboards (or, at the very least, computers, projectors and screens) taking up the space where the blackboards used to be. There is an internet connection (when it works) and, since Ofsted is quite keen on multimedia in lessons, the YouTube video clip is king. There is lots of useful stuff there, and most of it is short. What's even better, from the point of view of the teacher, is that the link to the exact video you want can be embedded into the PowerPoint presentation (or Smartboard/ActiveInspire lesson) and is therefore just a click away (so no need to turn your back on the little darlings!)

So, now, every teacher uses YouTube clips. It is necessary to compete with one's colleagues to find the best clips so as not to elicit a groan from the students: "But Miss, it's boring!"

Different groups respond in different ways, but overall I find that humour works best. This little snippet made a great starter for discussion of how gravity is a non-contact force...

Of course, now the difficulty lies in not getting sidetracked! ("Miss, do you believe in alien abduction...?")

(BTW, be sure to watch right to the end... there's a little twist - though you can only hear it!)

Kudos To Shrewsbury Diocese...

Shrewsbury Diocese tweets under the Twitter handle @ShrewsRCnews and Simon Caldwell has been busy tweeting about the flooding in Lourdes because it will affect the diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes planned for the end of July.

It looks as though the Grotto itself will be opened up from Monday (possibly sooner) but the Domaine has suffered serious damage which will cost millions to repair. Several hotels have been forced to close because of flood damage, and are unlikely to reopen this season. The Underground Basilica of St. Pius X was flooded out (I saw it on one of the video clips) and it's hard to believe that it will be opened any time soon. The Church of St. Bernadette (opposite the Grotto) will have to remain closed all season because of serious structural damage.

Despite the difficulties this will cause, the diocesan pilgrimage will still go ahead. In addition, they plan to donate €5000 towards repairs (along with any other donations people care to contribute.) Apparently they did the same thing after the floods last October.

If anyone else wants to contribute, details can be found on the Diocese of Shrewsbury News Updates page.

Disability Discrimination ?

Disability groups have fought hard for years against discrimination, and rightly so. The 2012 paralympics was lauded as a tremendous sign of triumph over adversity, an indication of what people with all sorts of disabilities can achieve - and, quite frankly, all of the so-called "disabled" sportsmen and women could wipe the floor with me in any of the sporting events.

But there is one teensy little point which very few people appear to have mentioned. Society at large (and British legislation in particular) actively encourages direct discrimination against disabled people in one case: any person with a disability can be aborted up to birth.

According to Section 1 of the Abortion Act 1967, the legal limit for an abortion in the UK is 24 weeks. After 24 weeks, presumably, the medics and legal bods have decided that the baby "becomes" a real person, because Sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 come into play.

However, if the baby has a substantial risk of being born with a disability, then the 24-week limit doesn't apply. Note that the disability doesn't have to be definite, there just has to be a substantial risk. No-one has, to my knowledge, actually gone as far as defining what constitutes "substantial." I doubt that any hospital, clinic or doctor would be too keen on insisting that the risk was only a small one and so refusing to give an abortion, just in case the baby did have a disability and the parents subsequently sued. It might put a sizable dent in the Health Trust's budget!

I have read of more than one case where an abortion was carried out, and the disability turned out to be a cleft palate.

And did I mention that the disability doesn't have to be a physical one? Mental abnormalities are also included. What those abnormalities have to be before the baby qualifies as an exception to the Offences Against the Person Act are similarly undefined.

When the Abortion Act was brought in, it was thought that there were sufficient safeguards to keep abortion from being used too freely. Unfortunately, fallen human nature being what it is, we can't see a boundary without pushing it as far as it will go... and then pushing a bit more.

So it's ok to discriminate against disabled people up until they are born... and then it is no longer acceptable.

Well, that could be about to change too...

The Royal Dutch Medical Association (KNMG), representing doctors in the Netherlands, has said that distress felt by parents can justify "euthanasia" of a dying newborn, making it acceptable, or even necessary. Already, the 2004 Groningen Protocol sets out medical guidelines on "euthanasia" for minors, and this has allowed medical practitioners to end the lives of many children with spina bifida. Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, for example, would never have been given the chance to win her 16 Paralympic medals, nor would many others be allowed to show what they could achieve, being "weeded out" early on so as not to cause their parents distress.

It is all very well to say that this law would only be used for children that were already dying - but, as shown in the case of Tony Bland, it wouldn't stop there. He was neither dying nor in pain, he was simply in a vegetative state... until they stopped feeding and hydrating him. "The lack of quality of life" would soon be invoked for many children born with disabilities...

So it would seem that we have come full-circle, and discrimination against people with disability is not just considered acceptable, but actually necessary.

And this is supposed to be "progress"...

Oh, and did I mention that the Dutch also want to be able to decide to "euthanise" adults with Alzheimer's or other dementias if they have been judged to be "incompetent"? Twitch of the mantilla to Deacon Nick Donnelly for highlighting this.

Day With Mary In Dartford...

I happened to be shopping in Dartford on Monday afternoon. Despite Dartford being only 5 miles away, to my shame I hadn't managed to get to see Fr. Stephen Boyle since his appointment as Parish Priest to St. Anselm's last September, so I stopped off for a coffee and a chat. Fr. Stephen doesn't have a blog, but he does like appearing on them. The parish website, however, is run on a Wordpress template - technically that is a blog, but I suspect that someone else maintains it!

I was interested to see a certificate in the presbytery commemorating all the Rectors and Parish Priests of Dartford...

Unfortunately the lighting meant I couldn't get a clearly focused photo on my phone (I will try again the next time I'm there), but the names go all the way back to the 12th century (with a gap for the Reformation period when it states that there may have been priests living clandestinely in the area). Sadly there hasn't been room for the last two parish priests... maybe Fr. Stephen will start up a new inscription.

I also had the chance to admire the new lighting which has just been installed in the church.

Fr. Stephen told me that the Day With Mary team will be visiting his parish on Saturday 29th June. To my great disappointment, I missed the one in Blackfen back in March, so I want to try to get to part of this one.

The Day With Mary apostolate is a wonderful thing, with days of prayer organised in different parishes, usually on Saturdays. A couple of processions (one with the statue of Our Lady of Fatima, one with the Blessed Sacrament), the Rosary (all of the mysteries except the Sorrowful ones - they are replaced by meditations of the Stations of the Cross), Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Benediction, enrolment in the Brown Scapular, a couple of sermons on Our Lady, the opportunity for Confessions and, of course Mass. It's not so much a boost to one's spiritual life as a full-blown explosion...

For those of you who can't make it to any of these days, the Day With Mary team now put the talks online on their website - if you click on a video near the bottom you need to scroll back up to watch it as it won't open as a pop-up (I was clicking on several videos for ages before I twigged... a real blonde moment!) However, these short talks don't convey the atmosphere and impact of the days themselves (though a previous post of mine might give you a glimpse), so, if you hear of one happening near you, I really do recommend that you go along!

Pray For Lourdes...

The flooding is much worse than last year - and it is happening at the height of the pilgrimage season, which will affect many of the townspeople who rely on the pilgrims for their livelihoods.

The video was made early on in the flooding. Screenshots I took from the BBC News video show how much worse it has become...

The bridge over the Gave de Pau from the hospital side... (For comparison, have a look at the same bridge in a video from the floods of last year)

And this year the bridge itself has been partially submerged...

A view of the Grotto - you get a clear idea of how high the water has risen when you see where the statue of Our Lady is...

The water level of the Gave de Pau does seem to be going down, but it depends on whether or not there are further storms. Mark Lambert has a more detailed report of the damage identified so far. Please pray for everyone concerned.

UPDATE: The sight of the Domaine in front of the Rosary Basilica under water in a later video was a real shock. First, the Crowned Virgin can be seen in the top right hand corner of the photo...

Then, as the camera moves back, you can see where the water has reached (the van hasn't moved)...

And here is the latest video (twitch of the mantilla to Fr. George Byers - he must be terribly upset, as he was a chaplain in Lourdes for many years.) Flooding in the town is also shown in the video...

Innondation à Lourdes le 18 juin 2013 by Lourdesactufr

Lourdes Underwater Again...

I was heartbroken to hear that, once again, the Grotto at Lourdes is under about 3 feet of water. Fr. George Byers posted the photo on his blog. Lourdes is one of my favourite places. The webcams at the Grotto appear to be down, so no idea when things will improve.

The last major flood was just nine months ago...

Pray that all pilgrims, and all the local inhabitants of Lourdes may be kept safe.